Emerge Literary Journal: 2022
Issue 21
Editor’s Note
As most know, all writers are highly in tune with words and how they’re able to evoke emotions in others, whether spoken or written. Words have power—the power to inspire others to take action, the power to allow people to share common or foreign experiences across miles, and the power to change lives. We each have a story to tell—our unique journey begging for its own words. Our day to day lives include massive barriers we’ve overcome; shattered dreams, life altering situations, and amazing transformations, all of which are either waiting to be or have been written.
When I sat down to examine what the overarching theme of Issue 21 encompassed, I knew there were three words that found their way into every piece: voice, spirit, and journey. Indeed, each piece embodies the courage these contributors have employed to find their voice in this noisy world, and let’s face it, we live in a noisy world. We live in a world bombarding us with forces constantly dictating who we should be4, what we should look like, and what we should eat, drink, wear, and feel. The contributors in this issue speak with unique voices through words, words that have a remarkable way of silencing the noise, healing the spirit, freeing the mind, and connecting us to people and places we’ve never met.
I hope this issue will encourage you to find voice, fuel your spirit, and write your journey.
Be Well. Write Well. Read Well.
Ariana
Poetry
Driftwood || Hannah Yevington
Untranslatable || Kyle Vaughn
On the Death of Jenny von Westphalen || Mark Murphy
unbeliever, what is your north star? || Liane St. Laurent
Colors I Couldn’t Bring Home | Harmattan || Ifeoluwa Ayandele
Reading the Morning Surf Report || Sara Fitzpatrick Comito
Sinedu’s Letter || Emily Butler
Snow Angels | Clay | Parting || Naomi Anna Kimbell
Untitled Poem About Breaking | Lacerations (With Apologies to Law & Order: Criminal Intent) | Message From a Muse || Wren Donovan
Spire Without Glory || Hibah Shabkhez
This Is Not Prose, a Prose Poem Contest
Winner | Red Son || Daniel Lui
Runner-Up | Trivia || Wren Donovan
Esperanza Corner
[There’s a difference between lonely and lonesome though what it is I’m not quite sure] || Terena Elizabeth Bell
Demons on the Doorstep || Mark Finnemore
Flotsam || Katy Naylor
ELJ believes that #mentalillnessawareness and #endingthestigma are of paramount importance. We believe in the necessity of sharing our mental illness and trauma stories to facilitate writing through illness and create broader awareness. We’ve created this corner to allow writers to not only share their stories but to be home to those who share in their experiences.
Creative Non-Fiction
Cat Love || Gabriella Souza
The Dance || Emily James
History Lesson || Lori Yeghiayan Friedman
When Winter Comes || Janet Murie
If You’d Never || Wendy Chirikos
Stories that Wreck You While You Wait For the Light to Turn Green Contest
Winner | Hunger || Sara Chansarkar
Runner-Up | Saginaw || Sarah Freligh
Fiction
Aisle 9 || Kathryn Aldridge Morris
Close Encounter || Rebecca Ackermann
Heat (New York City, 1975) || Kathryn Kulpa
Sap || Natalie Yap
When the Cowboy Separates the Calves for Tomorrow’s Branding || Sabrina Hicks
Percolator || Briana Maley
Crush || Melissa Llanes Brownlee
The Sister from Nestor || Lisa Johnson Mitchell
Recommended for You || Brendan Gillen
Emerge Literary Journal 